And john mickle



(No Model.)

O. A. TATUM.

FASTENINGFOR FRUIT JAB, GAPS Pa-tehted Jan. 22

u Z Mm E m w J/VVEJVTORI lgdmg dmm UNITED STATES.

PATENT omen.

O. ALBERT TATUM, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND FRAN- CIS M. UNDERHILL, OF SAME PLACE JAMES \NHITALL, ROBERT 1?. SMITH, CHARLES ROBERTS, AND WILLIAM H. NICHOLSON, OFIHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND JOHN MIOKLE, OF MILLVILLE, NEIV' JERSEY.

FASTENING FOR FRUIT-JAR CAPS, etc.

E PECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 292,286, dated January 22, 1884;

Application filed November 19, 1883. No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, 0. ALBERT TATUM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, New York, have invented cer- 5 tain Improvements in Fastening Devices for Gaps of Fruit-Jars and other Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of the combination of the body-and cap of a fruitjar or other vessel IO with a pair of strips pivoted together adapted to the body and cap of the jar, and constructed to act upon each other in the manner hereinafter set forth, the object being to tightly press the cover to the packing-ring on the mouth of I5 the jar, and to retain it in this position.

111 the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the upper portion of a fruit-jar, showingmy improved device for securing the cover Fig. 2, a perspective view, and Fig. 3 a perspective view of detached from the jar.

The jar A has in the upper edge of its mouth in the present instance an annular recess for receiving the usual packingring, B, on which bears the cover D, the latter being preferably made of glass. p

The fastener consists of two hooked metallic strips, E E, loosely connected together by a pivot-pin, c. The shape of the hooked por- 0 tions f of these strips will depend in a great measure on that of the exterior of the mouth of the jar and cover, the form of which may be materially varied without departing from the main feature of my invention. In all cases, 3 5 however, the hooked portion of each strip should terminate in a lip, z, for underlapping the shoulder m on the neck of the jar. 'The strip E is really a lever having a short upwardly-bent arm, n, extending beyond the 40 pivot-pin beneath the strip E, the arm being rounded or beveled at its outer end.

Beforeapplying the fastener to the jar the two strips of metal should be adjusted to about the relative positions shown in Fig.3, after which the strips must be turned away from each other on their pivot-pin e until they are in line, or thereabout,with each other. This the fastenerv movement of the strips is resisted by the arm a, which presents an inclined or curved edge having a cam-like action on the under side of the st'ripE, so that in applying the necessary force to overcome the resistance presented by the arm a both strips will have an upward tendency, indicated by the arrows but as this is resisted by the shoulder m of the jar. there must necessarily be a compression of the cover on the packing B. Precisely the same result will be attained by making the arm n of the strip E straight, or nearly'so, and by so bending the stripE that it will bear withcam-like action on the said arm when the strips are turned on their pivot to secure the cover.

I prefer to make in the cover a central recess,

in which the circular head 25 of the pivot-pin can fit freely-an arrangement which facilitates the ready adjustment of the fastenerto a proper position on the cover, and at the same time tends to maintain the fastener in that position during the outward turning of the strips on the pivot-pin.

The strips should possess a slight inherent elasticity hence I prefer to make them of steel or other hard elastic metal, so thatthere may be a yielding pressure on the cover.

The fastener may be readily detached from the jar and cover by first moving the strips to about the position shown in Fig. 3, and then raising the fastener at or near the pivot-pin, when its hooked ends will be free from the shoulder of the j ar.

- For the convenient manipulation of the fast ener I form on each strip a lip, 00.

I claim as my invention- 1. A cover-fastener in which a hooked strip,

E, of metal, having an arm, a, is combined with and loosely pivoted to a hooked strip, E, the

arm n and strip E being constructed to act on each other, as described, when the strips are turned outward on the pivot-pin, all substantially as set forth.

' 2. Thecombination of the upper end of the jar having a shoulder, m, and the cover D,

having a central recess, with the strips E E,

each having a hooked end to underlap the shoulder, and loosely connected together by a to this specification in the prkseiee of two subpivot-pin, the head of which is adapted to the scribing witnesses. recess of the cover, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the top of thejar and ALBERT TATUM' 5 cover with the two hooked strips loosely piv- \Vitnesscs:

oted together and having lips as, as described. THos. J. Pownns,

In testimony whereof I have signed my name EMIL NIELSEN. 

